# Santa Cruz, California — #2,975 of 3,144 counties

> Liberty Moving composite score 4.61 of 10. FIPS 06087. Population 261,547. v4 — beta, 30 October 2026, sourced values.

About 261,500 people live in Santa Cruz, California. It ranks #2,975 of 3,144 counties for liberty, and #31 of 58 in California. The combined sales tax is 8.5%, higher than in 91% of counties. Property tax takes about 0.6% of a home's value each year, less than in 65% of counties. Local government employs a larger share of working residents than in 64% of counties. The homicide rate is higher than in 58% of counties. Life expectancy is at least 80 years, longer than in 91% of counties. Air quality is better than in 74% of counties (a typical day's air quality index is 37), and flood and hurricane risk is higher than in 93% of counties. On this site's state scores, California gets 4.79 of 10 for economic freedom, based on the Fraser Institute's ranking, and 1 of 10 for gun rights.

## Scores

| Factor | Level | Score (0–10) | Flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fraser Institute state ranking | state | 4.79 |  |
| 2A | state | 1.00 |  |
| Air quality | county | 6.33 |  |
| GOP + LP vote for President | county | 2.13 |  |
| Homicide rate | county | 8.15 |  |
| Sales tax | county | 2.27 |  |
| Property tax | county | 7.00 |  |
| Floods / hurricanes | county | 0.38 |  |
| Life expectancy | county | 10.00 |  |
| Government employees | county | 3.43 |  |
| Single-parent households | county | 5.47 |  |

"est" marks a derived or placeholder value with no published county figure.

## Neighbors

- #2876 Santa Clara, California — https://libertymoving.org/counties/06085.md
- #2912 Monterey, California — https://libertymoving.org/counties/06053.md
- #2917 San Benito, California — https://libertymoving.org/counties/06069.md
- #2807 San Mateo, California — https://libertymoving.org/counties/06081.md

## Links

- Page: https://libertymoving.org/counties/06087
- Compare: https://libertymoving.org/compare?a=06087
- Methodology: https://libertymoving.org/methodology
- Sources and terms: https://libertymoving.org/privacy